Commodities have taken their steepest decline since 2009. Silver and Oil dropped 8 percent or more. The Goldman Sachs Commodity Index plunged 6.5%. So, you might be wondering who the biggest losers are. Insider Monkey, your source for hedge fund holdings, tracks more than 250 hedge funds. We compiled the list of 10 hedge funds with the highest exposure to commodities. These are based on 13F filings and show hedge funds’ positions at the end of December. We also don’t have data about hedge funds’ physical commodity/precious metal holdings, or their positions in futures markets. Here are the 10 hedge funds that are hammered by today’s decline in commodities:
1. Andrew Hall – Astenbeck Capital Management: Andrew Hall’s commodity fund had 100% of its assets in commodities. Hall launched the fund in 2010 and more than 40% of the fund’s 13F holdings are in Energy ETF (XLE) and Oil and Gas Explorers ETF (XOP).
2. T. Boone Pickens – BP Capital: More than 95% of Boone Pickens’ portfolio was exposed to commodities. He is an oilman after all. His largest position was Chesapeake Energy at the end of December. Luckily, CHK gained 0.4% yesterday.
3. Eric Sprott – Sprott Asset Management: Eric Sprott recently said that he was selling silver and buying silver miners. Silver dropped 25% during the past four days and the decline in silver miners was around 15-20%. More than 95% of Sprott’s portfolio was exposed to commodities. He has been a long-time gold and silver bull. His largest positions at the end of December were Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV), Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW), and Barrick Gold (ABX).
4. Paul Touradji – Touradji Capital Management: More than 95% of Paul Touradji’s portfolio was exposed to commodities. This is normal because he is running one of the largest commodity-based hedge funds in the U.S. Touradji was born in Iran and previously worked at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. His largest 13F positions were Petrobras (PBR) and Barrick Gold (ABX). PBR is down 3.4% and ABX is down 2.7% today.
5. Gary A. Smith – Bluefoot Partners: More than 83% of Bluefoot Partners’ portfolio was exposed to commodities. Bluefoot’s largest positions were Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Gold Miners ETF (GDX), and Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ).
6. Ranjan Tandon – Libra Advisors: Ranjan Tandon’s Libra Advisors is an emerging markets hedge fund but its 13F portfolio is mainly invested in gold stocks. More than 63% of Tandon’s portfolio was exposed to commodities. His top commodity stocks were Gammon Gold (GRS) and Goldcorp (GG). GRS is down 5.1% and GG is down 4.1%.
7. Charles Davidson – Wexford Capital: More than 58% of Wexford’s portfolio was exposed to commodities. Wexford’s biggest positions were in independent oil and gas companies. They also had some gold and silver holdings. Rhino Resource Partners (RNO) and Energy Partners (EPL) were two of their largest positions. EPL lost 2.4% today.
8. Richard Chilton – Chilton Investment Company: Chilton had more than 54% of his portfolio in commodities. He had a diversified portfolio with holdings in industrial metals and minerals, agricultural chemicals, gold, oil stocks, silver, and copper. His biggest position was Alpha Natural Resources (ANR).
9. Wilbur Ross – Wilbur Ross & Co: More than 51% of Wilbur Ross’ portfolio was exposed to commodities. His biggest position was EXCO Resources (XCO).
10. Daniel Bubis – Tetrem Capital: This $7 Billion Canadian fund has more than 50% of its assets in commodities. Tetrem had a diversified portfolio of commodities. Bubis’ largest commodity stocks were Barrick Gold (ABX), Potash (POT), and Suncor Energy (SU). Suncor lost 6% today, but is still up more than 7% for 2011.
